Wicked Things Horror Blog: Horror Films Set in New England

I'm not going to post any Stephen King films, because we all know they are set in New England, duh, but I will post a few interesting selections you might not have realized were in the Northern United States, New England States. I'm also not going to post The Crucible or The Scarlett Letter, because obviously The Crucible is the story of the actual Salem Witch Trails and The Scarlett Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was from Salem, Massachusetts and all his stories were set there, pretty much.

At the end of the post, I will give you a list of these films that are available for free viewing online!

Yellow Brick Road (2010) - In 1940, the population of Friar, New Hampshire walked up a winding mountain trail, leaving everything behind. In 2008, the first expedition into the wilderness attempts to solve the mystery of the lost citizens of Friar. Friar, New Hampshire isn't real. The only towns that begin with "F" in New Hampshire are Farmington, Fitzwilliam, Francestown, Franconia, Franklin, Freedom, and Fremont. Its not a very big place as in most New England states, you can drive from one end to the other in three hours and side to side in about two.

Session 9 (2001) - Set at Danvers State Hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts, an old state psychiatric hospital, which has since burned down and the sections that didn't have either been torn down or turned into apartments by Avalon Crane Brook, this strange psychological thriller was filmed on the grounds of the hospital's ruins before it was no more. This movie sucks so I won't even post the link to it. The most interesting thing about it is the hospital.

Horror Hotel (The City of the Dead) (1960) - Horror Hotel, a tale of witchcraft and the undead, of course, was set, but not filmed in the fictional town of Whitewood, Massachusetts, which was supposed to be a Salem type place. It was actually produced in England.

The Haunted Palace (1963) - The Haunted Palace was filmed in the fictional Massachusetts town of Arkham. Starring Vincent Price and Lon Chaney Jr., this terrible tale depicts a village under the oppression of a "living-dead" necromancer. Directed by Roger Corman, this flick is one in a series of eight flicks mostly based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Although the film was entitled "Edgar Allan Poe's The Haunted Palace," the film scored its plot from The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, a novella by H. P. Lovecraft, which has been depicted in The Re-Animator as well as The Resurrected, both films based on the same story.

The Haunting (1963) - Adapted by Nelson Gidding from the novel, "The Haunting of Hill House", by Shirley Jackson, the same author who wrote the short story, "The Lottery", which I love, because its very "Wicker Man-ish" and sorta Population 436, too! The film, which was redone in 1999, of course, and starred Lily Taylor, Katherine Zeta Jones, Liam Neeson, and Owen Wilson weaves the tale of a group invited to stay at a haunted manor house by a paranormal investigator. The film was shot in England, but was set in "New England".

The Incubus (1981) - Starring John Cassavetes and set in the fictional New England town of Galen, which I will assume is supposed to be like Salem much as Whitewood, Massachusetts in Horror Hotel (The City of the Dead), this tantalizing tale follows a teen boy, who claims he has prophetic dreams of young lady being sexually assaulted and killed A doctor and sheriff find that the visions are factual and that a cult may be causing these events.

Beetlejuice (1988) - Set in the fictional Winter River, Connecticut, we all know what Bettlejuice is about so I am not going to reiterate what this fantastical journey through the brain of Tim Burton entails.

In the Mouth of Madness (1994) - This truly disturbing film is set in the town of Hobbs End, New Hampshire, which doesn't exist. This "Lovecraftian" film (We all know how I feel about that.) was directed and scored by John Carpenter and stars Sam Neill, Jürgen Prochnow, and Charlton Heston. The film is the third installment in what Carpenter calls his Apocalypse Trilogy, preceded by The Thing and Prince of Darkness. This is one of my favorite flicks of all time and I highly recommend watching it if you have not!

What Lies Beneath (2000) - Set in Vermont this supernatural thriller, directed by Robert Zemeckis, stars Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a seemily ordinary couple who experience a strange haunting that uncovers secrets about their past. Their kid goes off to college and the wife(mom)gets all weird and starts hearing and seeing things in the house, where there were no problems before. Someone just might be trying to tell her something and it ain't Jesus! Yup, I just used the word ain't. Shut up! I know my Mom is probably going to faint and my Dad will likely fall in a bucket of paint, but oh well. Now it sounds boring, but its effed up and you might like it. I recommend it. I can't really say what else its about, because it will ruin all the plot twists and junk!

The Devonsville Terror (1983) - Starring Donald Pleasence, the plot of this film, which I have never seen focuses on three women who arrive in a conservative New England town, one of whom is the reincarnation of a witch who was wrongfully executed along with two others by the town's founding fathers in 1683. Its set in New England, but was filmed in Lincoln County, Wisconsin. There is, in fact, no such city or town in Massachusetts called Devonsville. However, there is a Devens, Massachusetts, an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in Massachusetts. Its the successor to Fort Devens, a military post that operated from 1917 to 1996, but I think Devonsville is again, supposed to be Salem, Massachusetts such as Galen is probably supposed to be in Incubus and Whitewood is supposed to be in Horror Hotel (City of the Dead).

Darkness Falls (2003) - This film is set in the town of Darkness Falls, which is based on the town of Fall River, Massachusetts. It begins with the legend of Matilda Dixon, adored by the town's children. She gave them coins when they lost a tooth and was labeled, "Tooth Fairy".

After a fire left her a burn victim with sensitivity to light, she donned a porcelain mask and only went out at night. The kids still loved Matilda, but the town's adults were suspicious. It came to pass that two kids were missing and the adults blamed Matilda. They hanged her, ripping off her mask and exposing her face to the light.

Matilda swore vengeance upon the town upon her dying lips. Subsequently, the two missing children came home unscathed. The town, ashamed and proven wrong, buried Matilda's body along with their secret.

This tale of Matilda Dixon is told for generations after her murder. Legend has it that her spirit visits children on the night they lose their last milk tooth as they sleep. Alas, should anyone catch a glipse of her they are cursed and marked for death for a lifetime if they last that long.

Kyle realizes Matilda is, in fact, not just a fairy tale when he, however unfortunately, catches sight of sees her in his room. Realizing that light weakens this ghoul, he shines a flashlight on her face and hides in the brightly lit bathroom. His mom tries to calm him and make him realize nobody is or was in his bedroom. She is killed after seeing Matilda. With the daylight comes the police and young Kyle is taken to a psychiatric facility as it is assumed that he probably killed his mother.

Now, where to watch some of these gems for free online...

Click on the links below to watch these films online free!